
Dick Norwood
Edward Beck
Binks Mulligan
Mrs. Mulligan
Mrs. Norwood
Rachel Beck
Mrs. Beck
Helen Bower
Mrs. Bower

Three convicts escape from prison on Devil's Island just before Christmas and arrive at a nearby French colonial town. They go to the store of the Ducotels, the only store that gives supplies on credit. They initially intend to take advantage of them but have a change of heart after they find the family is in financial troubles.

Helmut and Sabine Halm have always managed vacations of lazy privacy at their favorite retreat on Germany′s Lake Constance. So when the energetic, handsome Klaus Buch turns up with his beautiful girlfriend Helene, Helmut is quite ready to dismiss this dimly familiar acquaintance. But Klaus is overjoyed to recognize his old schoolmate Helmut, eager to recall every incident of their shared time, and to display every detail of this successful lifestyle as a fit sportsman and author. The precious days of privacy give way to an unwanted and awkward intimacy, as the Buchs and the Halms hike, dine and sail together. Their joint activities aggravate myriad psychological tensions among the four characters, which are all the more intensely ironic for their peaceful veneer and which must eventually erupt.

Jack's lavish, fast-paced lifestyle changes one Christmas night when he stumbles into a grocery store holdup and disarms the gunman. The next morning he wakes up in bed lying next to Kate, his college sweetheart he left in order to pursue his career, and to the horrifying discovery that his former life no longer exists. As he stumbles through this alternate suburban universe, Jack finds himself at a crossroad where he must choose between his high-power career and the woman he loves.

Robert Lahnstein, feared TV commentator, doesn't like people, not even at Christmas. He wants to be alone - even on Christmas Eve. He thinks Christmas is just as hypocritical as politics. That's why he packs his SUV with a frozen goose and a Christmas tree to retreat to his lonely cabin in the mountains. But the plan ends for him in a tree. With the last of his strength he reaches a barn. But he is not allowed to be alone even in the deepest wilderness, because other people have also sought shelter from the snowstorm in this barn and Robert Lahnstein has to gradually put aside his rudeness and his prejudices.

Christmas Eve, somewhere in a gray suburb, a young daydreaming pizza delivery boy named Abdou, meets the real Santa Claus, who’s name is Marcel. The journey of this worn out and tired old man is jeopardized by a stupid accident with a scooter. Thanks to Abdou, who calls on the help of some of the neighborhood’s unusual characters, Santa’s distribution is completed. In a mayhem of song and dance, Christmas is saved!